The Republican dominated Ohio House of Representatives has approved a congressional redistricting map. But Democrats are vowing this isn’t the end of the fight. As Ohio Public Radio’s Jo Ingles reports, the minority party is threatening a court suit or a referendum..or both.
Ohio loses two seats in congress and the new map reflects that. It puts two Republicans against each other in one district and two Democrats against each other in another. That might sound fair, but democrats like Representative Matt Lundy say it’s an exercise in gerrymandering that probably left Ohioans asking questions.
Lundy says, "I’m sure there were a lot of them who thought this was drawn by politicians who had too much caffeine and were handed an etch a sketch."
Democrat John Carney says the districts are not competitive and because of that, he says representatives from these areas will be hyperpartisan since the races will be decided in primaries rather than general elections.
Carney says, "It will be a decision between someone who is right or far right or someone who is left or further left."
Democrats say the process for considering the maps is flawed. That’s why Representative Tom Ledsen unsuccessfully proposed an amendment that would have required four public hearings on the map before lawmakers could vote on it.
Ledsen says, "This thing is less than 48 hours old. You don’t even pick up a kitten until it’s older than 48 hours."
Majority lawmakers in the house don’t see the need for Ledsen’s amendment. Republican Representative Matt Huffman says there’s simply not time, at this point, for lawmakers to hold hearings on the map. He says Democrats who are threatening to go to court over this issue might end up taking control out of the hands of lawmakers and putting control into the hands of judges.
Huffman says, "If this was stretched out long enough, and we didn’t draw this, that’s who’d be picking these congressional districts. That’s who’d be picking who your representative is. And by the way, all of the folks who are on the 6th circuit, they aren’t all Ohioans. There’s folks from Michigan, Tennessee and Kentucky on the court. And that may be who ends up picking your representative in the state of Ohio."
Huffman says majority lawmakers think this map is fair.
Huffman says, "Ultimately what we want, what we all want is what is fair. The question is what Matt Huffman thinks is fair and what Bob Hagan thinks is fair may not be the same thing."
Many Republicans, like Representative Lou Blessing, asks Democrats why didn’t they draw a map for consideration?
Blessing says, "You have a duty to do it, not just us. So I hope we can do things better in the future. It’s too late for a map now. We are voting today and I wish we would have had a map from your side because it would have made a difference."
All of the house Republicans and three Democrats, who like the way some African American communities are defined in this map, give the plan their approval. The map now goes to the Senate. But Democrats who don’t like it are not giving up. Chris Redfern is the head of the Ohio Democratic Party.
Redfern says, "We are prepared to use every tool, every constitutional resource at our disposal to fight this unfair congressional map. We are in the midst of weighing our options for legal challenges and a referendum campaign."
And if Democrats pursue an expensive and exhausting referendum, the map could be tied up for months. Redfern says he’d like to avoid the fight and instead…have representatives from both sides of the aisle make changes to the map to make it more palatable to everyone. Republican Speaker Bill Batchelder hints a small appropriation of money the plan…and that might make it harder for the map to be put up for a referendum. In the meantime, Senate Democrats are preparing a plan of their own to offer up as the map proceeds through that chamber.